Well we made it to Key West, FL! We left Sunday around 1pm and sailed (sometimes in 8-10′ seas/swell for a few hours) until the next afternoon when we started motor sailing. The trip started off with a pod of dolphins to entertain us as soon as we got into the Yucatan channel. The self steering wind vane (who we have named Pier as the brand is Voyageur) worked great. Its a good thing we fixed this while in the Rio Dulce. The rest of the trip was light wind or no wind so the iron jenny (diesel motor) got a work out and performed well. We sail much faster than we motor so this slowed us down. This is the reason we took off Sunday vs Monday. But we needed to wait till the seas calmed down abit as we had 20-30 N/NW wind due to a front the previous 2 days. This year has been FULL of North fronts. We were blessed with no compression loss/injector and belt ripping issues like our season started with. We were glad to have Vicki on board as it gave us 6 hours off watch schedule versus 3 hours. So this improved our sleeping time….
There is something about making passage with seeing no other humans around in such a populated world, watching the sun/moon/stars dance, the illumination in the water created by our wake, the changes created by wind/sea, the time to contemplate life, etc. We did have a death on board during this passage. A small yellow finch may have escaped Cuba and flew to our boat for refuge and respite. We were surprised that after a few minutes it didn’t leave. It found the nearest yellow in our Wararo basket down below and made that its home. We tried to give it water and food and did partake in abit of that. You could tell that it probably was a pet as after abit it allowed us to touch it. Then it got too cold being outside and flew to the inside steps next to diesel engine. It wasn’t long after that that it flew to another area by our computer but then started twitching and soon thereafter even after bringing it outside – it died. It was sad as the bird brought us enjoyment and we hope we gave it comfort. We felt aweful for us not protecting it from the diesel fumes. Vicki gave it a sea burial along with our individual prayers!
Key West is sure a trip from being in Central America. It is a FREE place where people do what they want…. It was fun to explore and people watch. It is a ways out there from other civilization and sure not apart of the deep south.
What happens next is unknown other than we plan on putting Sojourn on the hard at Green Cove Springs Marina in St. Johns River, FL for a bottom job/blister repair, possible survey and downtime. We are on that journey now making day/overnight passages. Vicki left us in Marathon, FL. We currently had a great overnight sail to Ft. Lauderdale. We are having Tom’s cousin Jeanine/Ram visit us and a technician look at the watermaker that hasn’t worked to specifications since we bought it in 2008. Next we motor/sail up the next 280nm to St. John’s river. We hope to be back in MN early June.
May you live your dreams! THANKS for all your support over the last 7 years while we were on our AMAZING journey with Sojourn! Life is full of changes you learn to accept. Please keep us posted as to your lives/dreams as we really want to stay in touch with ALL we have met!